Home is Where We Start From - My self-led Residency at The Hide Artist Retreat, August 2025
I know a few Artists who have previously stayed at The Hide and when applying for funding from my local Arts Charity Arts Network Sutton, I knew the Hide was the right place for me. I was granted funding to cover the cost of my stay and organised a mentoring session with Alice who runs the retreat.
My intention was to use my week to consider recent findings about my parents after my mother’s death last Christmas and my father’s death in 1974, when I was 7. My father was a comedian and performer who met a sad ending to his life. I’ve performed at different stages of my life and more recently have begun to share poetry I write at local events. It’s been interesting to make the connections between his life and mine.
As a qualified Art Psychotherapist, I have worked with many people affected by early experiences. For the last 6 years I have focussed on my own art practice and how it functions as a conduit to process my personal history. My work, primarily oil painting is informed by memory, significant objects, and the internal landscape they inhabit. I am drawn to vibrant colour which sometimes feels discordant with the subject underlying the work; this is something I want to address further on the MA I am starting at City and Guilds London Art School soon. My week at The Hide was calm, quiet, and restorative with uninterrupted time and space. I had an open expectation of what I might make during the week. I wanted to work responsively in reflecting and writing my daily observations both external and internal.
I enjoyed perusing the artist books I brought with me. During my mentoring session Alice suggested I think about specifics of why I had chosen which books to bring. This was a helpful exercise in locating the connections I feel with the work of a range of artists. I enjoyed walking to the local community shop and cold-water swims but chose to spend most of my time at The Hide resting, reading, and reassessing my practice. Alice had some insightful comments on how to approach the MA too.
The first thing I made was different to my usual way of working; a simple exercise in placing coloured squares on paper, possibly an instinctive theta exercise. Alice made a helpful comment about the images resembling building blocks; I realised I needed to allow myself to work playfully with the materials I had with me. I also made abstract drawings in a concertina sketchbook and wrote a daily blog which you can read on my website https://www.traceyelizabethdowning.com. The accommodation was wonderful, with views into the flourishing garden. Going away alone at least once a year is an important part of my development as an Artist and something I’d recommend as a fertile time for reflection, focus and development.
Going on residencies for me is never about making finished work, it’s about allowing space for the seeds of new work to embed and begin to grow; to explore my thinking around my practice, to rest and see what develops. Towards the end of the week, I made some larger paintings on paper which may or may not inform future paintings, but they were a helpful way of processing some of the emotional content I went away to sit with.
You can find out more about Tracey’s work here:
instagram @traceyelizabethdowning
